Our first stop takes us to a table in Charlotte, where they have dishes for vegetarians, for vegans, for meat lovers, for everyone.

Let's meet the family behind the Nile Grocery and Ethiopian Restaurant.

- Charlotte is a growing city and there's a lot of new and shiny things.

But personally, I love eating at mom and pop restaurants.

- My parents started the business, just the grocery aspect, in 2005 to serve as a home base for our community.

To where they could buy Injera, our main dish, and a lot of the spices and ingredients that we use for food.

After the grocery portion had been kind of successful, we wanted to add the restaurant portion to that.

It all stems from my mom, who is the owner, chef, and server.

- They call me Mama Tsige.

When they come it's to buy Injera and get Mama Tsige, do you have Injera?

When I was in 11th grade, 10th grade I baked Injera for my family.

After coming back from school.

All the time I'm cooking, still.

I'm cooking by myself.

- [Nolawi] In some asian cultures where rice is the main staple and they add other meats and vegetables on top of it.

Injera is like our staple.

And we use that to eat with everything.

The main ingredient is teff flour.

It's an all natural, organic flour.

100% gluten free.

Whether it's a meat-based dish, or a veggie-based dish, you kind of rip up the spongy bread and we use that to eat pretty much all of our dishes.

- We are from earth, right?

The food is also from earth.

So there is nothing in between.

That's deep to me.

- [Nolawi] Everything here is made to order.

Our two most popular dishes are a veggie combo and our tips.

The veggie combo kind of has an assortment of different vegetable based dishes.

We have our red lentils.

We have our yellow lentils.

We have our cabbage with curry and we have a mix of collard green and spinach.

And then our tips is completely different.

That's our most popular meat dish.

It is cubed pieces of meat and it's kind of like a stew with a lot of spices in there and chopped onions and peppers.

- I like meat, I'm a meat eater.

So, the first time I came here I ate tips.

And it was amazing.

Every time I've come here the food has never disappointed.

- [Nolawi] Anything that you eat here, you can always find the ingredients on the grocery side.

- Tsige, the owner, treats you just like you're one of her kids.

And that was something that really stood out to me and made me want to come back over and over.

She'll take the time to explain different things to you.

You know, give you an actual history behind the dishes.

- The first coffee beans in the world is from Ethiopia.

And we cook on the jebena.

The name of the pot is jebena.

- Coffee originated in Ethiopia.

And even the name coffee is said to originate from the word "Kafa" which is the birthplace of coffee in Ethiopia.

It's not like you order just a single cup of coffee, you know?

It's for everybody and they serve it like that.

I don't feel like I have had my coffee if there is no ceremony.

- Usually the person roasting the coffee will go around and the aroma of the coffee to friends and family that are around.

You kind of shake the coffee in there and kind of get the senses.

It's a form of bonding, I would say.

For the people around that we have celebrating in ceremony.

It's also a form of appreciation for the person making the coffee.

- That in itself is really very important for us.

Because if that step is skipped, I feel like something, I missed something.

- [Nolawi] If you would like a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, definitely reach out beforehand so that my mom can prep that and be ready for that.

But yes, it would be a requirement, a minimum of four people because it is a communal event.

- It's not only about eating.

It's about experiencing something new.

Especially for people who are not used to Ethiopian food.

It's really, really a big experience.

And the Nile is really, very good.

- It's beyond a restaurant.

It's a place that will give you the sense of belongingness as human beings in general.

- [Deborah] Nile Grocery and Ethiopian Restaurant is at 3113 North Sharon Amity Road in Charlotte.

They're open everyday of the week starting at 9:00 A.M. To find out more, give them a call at 704-891-1387.